Hindustan Steel

a government-owned metallurgical company in India, the leading company in the public-sector heavy industry of the country. Hindustan Steel was founded in 1954 with the assistance of West German capital; since 1956, it has been totally owned by the government. In 1973, it became directly subordinate to the holding company known as the Steel Authority of India, which consolidated all the government-owned ferrous-metallurgy companies.

In 1975, the sales of Hindustan Steel totaled 8 billion Indian rupees and steel production amounted to 3.9 million tons. More than 50 percent of the steel and over 45 percent of the pig iron (1.6 million tons) made in India was produced by the company.

Hindustan Steel comprises three large metallurgical combines, one each in the cities of Rourkela, Bhilai, and Durgapur. The combines were built with the assistance of, respectively, West German companies, the USSR, and British companies. As of 1975, Hindustan Steel employed about 130,000 persons.